This invention concerns capacitors of the type comprising wound layers of dielectric material alternating with electrically conductive layers and also methods of manufacturing capacitor assemblies including a capacitor and electrical terminals as well as housing and mounting brackets therefor.
Such capacitor assemblies have typically included a housing in order to protect the capacitor itself from degradation due to environmental conditions and from simple mechanical abuse.
In addition, the housing is also commonly provided with a mounting bracket to allow the securement of the capacitor to the mounting structure. Finally, the necessary electrical terminals or connections to the capacitor windings are included in such assembly.
In many designs, the housing is provided by a metal casing in which is disposed the wound capacitor. The metal casing provides a ground contact for the capacitor by contact with the capacitor windings, and a flexible lead in electrical contact with the other side of the windings.
The mounting bracket is welded or otherwise secured to the metal housing in order to seal the cylinder at the point whereat the flexible lead emerges and a washer and sealing medium is employed.
The use of a relatively complex assembly adds substantially to the cost of manufacture of the component and the use of the metal housing creates the possibility of corrosion failure as well as grounding of adjacent electrical circuits.
Encapsulation has heretofore been proposed and implemented for other capacitor types, such as the design for a through contact capacitor, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,986,084.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a capacitor assembly of the type including a capacitor housing and end-mounted electrical terminals which may also include a grounding terminal mounting bracket in which the steps required to carry out its manufacture are substantially simplified.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide such a capacitor assembly in which the various components are sealed and supported in the proper relationship by a nonmetallic enclosure.